gates



(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. 8: L. W. GATES.

MACHINE FOR GAPPING TAGKS.

No. 373,284. I Patented Nov. 15, 1887.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. & L. W. GATES.

MACHINE FOR GAPPING TAOKS.

Patented Nov. 15, 1887.

' 5 Sheets-Sheet Patented NOV. 15, 1887.-

Illlilllllll. I Y .llllL A if (No Model.)

W. & L. W GATE-S.

MACHINE FOR OAPPING TAGKS.

N. PETERS. PhotoLilhognphor, Walhinglun, D. C,

- (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

W. & L W. GATES. MACHINE LOR APPING TACKS.

No. 373,284. Patented. Nov. 15, 1887.

'UNi'TED STATES PATENT Crrrcn.

WILLIAM GATES AND LOUIS VVFGATES, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT,

, ASSIGNORS TO THE C. CO\VLES & COMPAN Y, OF SAME PLACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.'373,284, dated November15, 1887.

Application filed July 11, 1887. Serial No, 243,945. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: of the cup down upon the under side of theBe it known that we, WILLIAM GATES and head, this operation beingcommonly called LoUIs W. GATES, of New Haven, in the county capping. ofNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have The'object of this invention isasimple nia- 5 invented new Improvements in Machines for chine, which,being supplied with cups and Capping Tacks; andwe do hereby declare thetacks, will automatically apply the cup to the following, when taken inconnection with achead and deliver the capped tack complete companyingdrawings and the letters of referfrom the machine. ence marked thereon,to be a full, clear, and In Fig. 1" we represent a headed tack with I [Oexact description of the same, and which said the cap detached, and inFig. 1 the cup in secdrawings constitute part of this specification,tion which is to be applied to the tack. The and represent, intacks maybe any of the common and well- Figure 1, a front view of the machine;Fig. known constructions. The cup is also of com- 1, a detachedfrontview ot' the slide, showing mon construction. It is made from sheet15 the cam-slot 26; Fig. l", a vertical section ofa metal, of' adiameter and shape on its closed headed tack; Fig. 1, a section of thecap such end corresponding substantially to the finished as employed forcapping the tack; Fig. 2, a head. The flange or sides of the cup are ofa plan or top view of the machine; Fig. 3, a loudepth to receive thehead and leave sufficient gitudinal sectional view cutting through themetal to be turned inward and closed upon the 2c i'ollowerandtack-channel; Fig. 4, a vertical inside of the head, so as to secure thecap upon section of the follower and tackreceiver, to the head.

illustrate their operation; Fig. 5, apartial ver- A represents the bedof the machine, suptical section illustrating thetransfer of the portedon legs B, and which carries the opera tack and cup to the punch; Fig.6, a vertical t-ive mechanism of-the machine. 25 section of the punchand die below, illustrat- C represents'the driving'shaft supported ining the manner of closing the cup on the head suitable bearings belowthe bed, and to which of the tack; Fig. 7, a transverse sectional iewpower is applied through a pulley, D, to imillustrating the manner ofpresenting the cups part a constant rotation to the driving-shaft. tothe follower; Fig. 8, a transverse section E represents the hopperadapted to receive 30 through the receiver, and as having receiveda thetacks and deliver them into an inclined tack from the channel; Fig. 9,the same view chute, F. The channel is of a width to peras Fig. 8,showing the receiver inverted as for mit the body of the tack to passthrough, with delivering atack; Fig. 10, atransverse section the headresting upon each side, and such :1. illustrating the punch and slidewhich carries channel is used in various machines of this 5 it; Fig. 11,a horizontal section cutting on the character, the inclination of thechannel, as plane of the upper surface of the slide Zr,- seen in Fig. 3,being sufficient to cause the Fig. 12, a detached view of the slide Zrand tacks to readily slide-down by their own gravthe nippers,illustrating the operation of the ity as the tacks are successivelyremoved from nippers. Fig. 13 illustrates the operation of the lower endof the chute. 9o 40 the clearing-finger 24. G represents the hopper,adapted to receive This invention relates to an improvementin the cups;and H, the inclined channel leading machines for performing the workcommonly therefrom, into which the cups will succescalled capping tacksand like articles. sively fall, the channel being in width slightlyTacks and like articles as usually made necgreater than the depth of thecup, so that the 5 5 essarily have a head of more or less irregular cupswill fall therein and rest upon their peshape. For upholsteringandsimilar purposes, riphery, as seen in Fig. 7, the inclination bewherethe head of the tack is to be exposed, a ing such that the cups willroll downthe chanfinished and uniform shape is desirable, and nel upontheir periphery as they are succesthis shape has been attained byforming a cup sively removed from the lower end of the chan-, [0o 50from sheet metahsetting the head of the tack nel. into the cup, thenclosing the sides or flange At the lower end of the channel a stop orcheck is arranged, which will arrest the column of cups and hold them insuspense until the proper time for the delivery of a cup from thecolumn. This stop is in the form of a lever, I, hung to swing in avertical plane parallel with the vertical plane of the channel B. Thischeck normally rests upon the lowest or last cup in the channel, as seenin Fig. 7. At the proper time the stop is raised by means of a cam, J,on the driving'shaft, which actuates a longitudinal slide, K, (see Fig.1,) the said slide being in connection with a vertical rock shaft, L,which extends up through the bed of the machine, (see Figs. 2 and 7,)and at its upper end carries an arm, M, which, under the oscillatingmovement of the rockshaft L, acts upon a cam-like arm, N, of the leverI, so as to raise the check from the cups, as indicated in broken lines,Fig. 7, and when the check is so raised the column is free to ad vance.At the lower end or foot of the channel H the receiver for the cup isarranged. This receiver consists of a vertical sleeve, 0, and afollower, I, within it. (See Figs. 3 and 7.) The sleeve 0 is guidedthrough the bed for up'and down movement, and, with the follower,normally stands below the top ofthe bed, so as to form a recess, R, inthe bed adapted to receive a cup, as seen in Figs. 3 and 7. This sleevereceives a vertical reciprocating movement from a cam, S, on thedriving-shaft, work ing through a stirrup, T, which is connected to thesleeve, the extent of movement of this sleeve being from the pointmentioned below the bed to a point above the bed, as seen in Fig. 4.From the follower a stud, U. extends radially outward through a slot, V,in the sleeve 0 into a vertical slot, \V, in the side of the guide inwhich the sleeve moves vertically. The follower P rests upon a spring,a, in the sleeve. The upper end of the sl0t,\V is in such positionrelatively to the stud U that when the'follower has been raised to aposition flush with the upper surface of the bed it will come to abearing against the upper end of the slot V, as seen in Fig. 4. Then thesleeve 0 continues its rise to a point above, as also seen in Fig. 4.

The cups fall into the cavity R upon the follower, and naturally theclosed side down. This closed side is usually rounded; bntin any casethe cup invariably rests the closed side down, as seen in Fig. 3. Sosoon as one cup has been delivered the check catches the next cup andholds back the column, the action of the check being adapted to the timeof the sleeve and follower. lVhen one cup has been thus delivered uponthe follower, as seen in Fig. 3, the ascent of the sleeve and followercommences and raises the cup to the position seen in Fig. 4, where itstands, resting on the top of the follower and within the sleeve readyto receive a tack.

The tacks, as before described, pass down through the channel F. At thelower end or foot of the said channel is a receiver, I), hung upon ahorizontal axis, d, parallel with the vertical plane of the channel, andin this receiver is a radial recess, 6, (see Fig. 8,) open at oneend,but closed at the other. Normally, this receiver stands with theradial recess at the delivery end of the channehso that the lowest tackmay enter therein, as seen in Fig. 8. The receiver has a rotativemovement iniparted to it upon its axis by means of atoothed pinion, f,thereon, into which a horizontal toothed rack, g, works. Areciprocatiugmovement is imparted to the said rack 9 through a two-armed lever, hhung upon avertieal fulcrum, it, (see Fig. 2,) and, so that under thereciprocating movement of the rack r a rotative movement will heimparted to the receiver 1). The means for imparting this reciprocatingmovement to said rack y will be hereinafter described. The rotativemovement imparted by the rack inverts the recess c,which receives thetack. bringing the head downward, as seen in Figs. 3 and 9, and so thatthe tack is free to fall from the receiver, and when the tack is soinverted it stands directly over the cup on the follower, as seen inFig. 3.

The rotative receiver serves as a cut-off at the end of the tack-channelto hold the column back while the one tack in the receiver is invertedand delivered into the cup below. Then when the receiver returns thecolumn is free, and the next tack advances into the receiver.

In suitable guides, and in a plane parallel with the axis of thereceiver, a longitudinallyreciproeating slide, Z, (see Figs. 3 and 11,)is arranged. This slide receives its reciprocating movement from agrooved cam, m, on the driving-shaft, in whicha stud, it, fixed to theslide Z, works. In the same plane ivith the slide Z, and working in thesame guides, is a second part, 1', the twoparts 1' and Z being conneetedby a slot, 8, on the one and corresponding stud, t, on the other, (seeFig. 12,) so that the part Zof the slide may receive a certain amount ofmovement independent of the part 0'; but when the slot-scomes to abearing upon the stud t in either direction then from that time the twoparts will move together as one slide.

On the part 1' a pair of nippers, 2 3, are hung upon pivots 4 5, so asto swing thereon in a horizontal plane. These nippers extend forward,and are provided with grasping-surfaces 6, adapted to grasp a tack. Fromthe hub of each of the nippers an arm, 7, extends, respectively, to theright and left, and from these arms links 8 extend, and are hung upon apivot, 9, on the part Z, as seen in Fig. 12. \Vhen the part Z of theslide is in its forward position with relation to the part i, the pivot9 is advanced toward the part 1-, and so as to force the nippers intotheir closed position, as seen in Fig. 12; but in the first part of therear movement of the part Z it will start in advance of the part 1, asindicated in broken lines, Fig. 12, which movement will draw the pivot 9away from the part 1 and cause the links to open the nippers, asindicated in broken lines, Fig. 12, and when the nippers IIO are soopened the slot 5 comes to a bearing upon the stud t, and the furtherrear movement of the part Z will cause the part 1" and the open nippersto move with it.

On the part r of the slide is a plate, 10, (see Fig. 3,) which, when theslide is in its forward position, stands beneath the receiver E, and sothat the head of the tack when inverted will rest thereon and beprevented from falling into the recess R below. Then as the slide Zrmoves rearward with the nippers open the plate passes from beneaththetack and the tack drops between the nippers, and so as to 7 bring itshead directly into the cup, as seen in Fig. 4. Now the slide Z commencesits advance, and the first part of its movement, be-

ing independent of the part 1", causes the nip.-

pers to close upon the body of the tack and so as to grip it firmly inits vertical position.

At the same timethe sleeve 0 drops, the fol lower P remaining in its upposition under the action of its spring a, the nippers holding the tackimmediately advance, and because the head of the tack stands within thecup the cup is carried by the tack and slides on the bed or a wayprepared for it from the follower, as seen in Fig. 5, to a positionwhere the clos ing operation is to be. performed. At this closing-pointa die, 11, is set in the bed of the machine, on which the cup rests, asseen in Fig. 5. punch, 12, arranged in a vertical slide, 13. (See Fig.10.) This slide is arranged in vertical guides 14, and to it a verticalreciprocating movement is imparted by a crank or ec-- centric, 15, onthe driving-shaft, working bedelivered from the machine.

tween arms 16, projecting from the slide, as seen in Fig. 10. The punch12 is tubular, and as it descends it passes onto the tack. As the punchcomes onto the point of the tack, so as to support it and prevent itsdisplacement, the return of the part Z of the slide commences andimmediately opens the nippers, and the slide, continuing its movement,withdraws the nippers from below the punch. The punch continues itsdescent. Its lower face is shaped to strike the flange of the cup, turnit inward, and close it upon the head'of the tack, as seen in Fig. 6.This done, the tack is complete, the punch 12 rises, and the tack isready to be Toinsure such delivery an ejector, 17, is hung upon avertical shaft, 18, (see Figs. 2 and 11,) to which a rotative movementis imparted, so that the ejector is rotated'in a horizontal plane, andit moves in a path close down upon the bed of the machine, or in theplane of the die upon which the closing operation is performed. Thisejector in so rotating will strike the tack and throw it into adischargechute, 19, whence it may be led through a tube, 20, to asuitable receptacle.

The horizontal rotating movement is im-' parted to the ejector 17through a train of Over this closing-point is a vertical of the saidtrain of gearing. The ejector may be of any suitable form, preferably weapply a rigid arm, and also a brush, as shown, so as not onlyto ejectthe finished tack, but to sweep the surface to remove anything foreignto the cup, which would be delivered irrespective of the fact that theprevious one were still on the follower. To remove such cup we provide afinger, 24, hung upon a pivot, 25, so as to swing in a horizontal plane,the finger extending in-, ward to one side of the position of the cup asit is presented to receive a tack, and as seen in Fig. 11. On theotherside of the pivot this finger extends into a cam-shaped groove, 26,in the slide 13, as seen in Fig. 1, and so that as the slide descends toperform the closing operation the finger will be turned across the planeof the cup, as seen in Fig. 13, and-so as to throw the cup from itsposition and out of the way of the next cup to be presented, and thisoccurs before the follower P commences its descent.

After the tack and cup have been removed from the follower the continueddescent of the .Fig. 11, is a longitudinallysliding bar, 27, ar-

ranged in suitable guides, and which extends to the rear or outer end ofthe slide Z. On the rear end of the slide 27 is an inward projection orshoulder, 28, and at the end of the slide is a corresponding projection,29, which stands forward of the projection 28 on the slide 27, and sothat as the slide retreats the projection 29 will strike the projection28 and force the slide 27 to its rear position, as seen in Fig. 11. Aspring, 30, is arranged tending to force the slide 27 forward or resistthe action of the re treating slide.

From the slide is an outward camshaped projection, 31, which is adaptedto act upon a downwardly-projecting stud, 32, from the arm' 1' of therack-lever, and so that as the slide 27 advances the said projection 31acts upon the lever 11h and turns it, so as to impart an advancerotative movement to the receiver, as before described. On the return ofthe slide Z theslide 27 is positively returned with it; but as thelevenh t" and the rack are independent of the retreating movement of theslide 27, we provide a spring, 33, (see Fig. 1,) which acts upon therack, tending to impart to it the retreating movement.

The two springs 30 and 33 are opposed to each other; but the power ofthe spring 30 is so much greater than the power of the spring 33 as toovercome the resistance of the spring 33 and impart to the rack 9through the slide 27 the required advance movement, the retreatingmovement of the slide 9 being produced by the spring 33 alone.

To prevent the possibility of a capped tack sticking in the punch weprovide a stationary follower, 34, which extends through the tubularfollower and is supported by a bracket, 35. (See Fig. 1.) The length ofthis follower is such that when the punch is in its up position, as seenin Fig. 3, the follower will project through the punch, and so as toinsure the clearance of the punch from all obstruction.

\Ve have described and illustrated the invention as for cappingupholsterers tacks; but this description and illustration will besut'ticientto enable others skilled in the art to apply substantiallythe same mechanism to the capping of other classes of tacks or nails orscrews.

Parts of our invention, as wehave described and illustrated it, areapplicable to similar machines independent of other parts of thismachine, as, for illustration, the receiver for cutting off the columnof tacks and inverting the tack may be utilized in machines in whichother mechanism is employed for applying the cap; or the channel andreceiver by which the tack is inverted may be used to present the tackor headed article for various purposes other than capping. Again, thesleeve and follower, with the channel for presenting the cups,may beemployed with other known tack-delivering channels than that which wehave described.

The transfer-nippers which we have described may be employed to transfertacks and cups delivered to them by other known channels and feedingdevices. we therefore do not wish to be understood as limiting ourinvention to the combination of all the specific devices which we havedescribed.

We claim 1. The combination of an inclined channel adapted to receiveand successively present a column of tacks, a rotating receiver hungupon an axis at the lower end of said channel, said receiver constructedwith a radial cavity to receive the lowest tack of the column, the axisof said receiver being parallel with the plane of said channel, andwhereby said receiver serves as a cut-off for said channel, an inclinedchannel adapted to carry the cupsfor the tacks, a follower below and inline with the tack in the receiver, said cupchannel being adapted todeliver the cups singly upon said follower, a reciprocating punch, andmechanism, substantially such as described, adapted to trans-v fer thesaid tack and cup to a position in line with said reciprocating punch,substantially from said channel and invert it, the verticalreciprocating sleeve 0, follower 1? within said sleeve, said sleeve andfollower arranged below and in line with the said recess, a cupchannel,H, arranged to deliver cups singly upon said follower, a slide arrangedto reciprocate between said receiver and said sleeve and follower, aplate, 10, on said slide extendin g beneath said inverted recess in thereceiver, a pair of nippers on said slide, also extending between saidrecess and said follower, and a vertically-reciprocating punch, 12, withmechanism, substantially such as described, to impart movement to saidparts, and substantially as described.

3. The combination of a channel, F, rotating receiver 2'), constructedwith a radial recess, c, opening from one side and in line with thetack-channel, toothed pinion on said receiver, a correspondingreciprocating rack arranged to work in said pinion, averticallyreciproeating follower beneath and in line with said recess, areciprocating slide, apair of nip pers on said slide extending betweensaid recess and said follower, a cup-carrying channel arranged todeliver cups singly upon said follower,and avertically-reeiprocatingpunch, substantially as described, said nippers being adapted totransfer a tack and cup to said punch.

4. The combination of the vertically-reciprocating sleeve 0,spring-follower P in said sleeve, a stop to arrest the ascent of saidfollower before the sleeve reaches its up position, a cup-channeladapted to present cups singly upon said follower within said sleeve,mechanism,substantially such as described, adapted to deliver tackssingly and head downward uponsaidcup,avertically-reciprocatingpunch, andmechanism, substantially such as described, to transfer a tack and cupinto line with said punch, substantially as specified.

5. The combination of a vertically-rcciproeating follower, a cup-channelarranged to present cups singly upon said follower, a tackchannel,mechanism, substantially such as described, to present the tacks singlyand head downward to the cup on the follower, a verticallyreciprocatingpunch, mechanism, substantially such as described, to transfer the tackwith the cup to a position below the punch, and a revolving ejectorworking in a plane at right angles to said punch, substantially asdescribed.

(5. In a tackcapping-machine, the combination of thevertically-reciprocating sleeve 0, follower P, the cup-channel H, thetack-channel F, rotative receiver 1), punch 12, mechanism, substantiallysuch as described, between said receiver and follower, adapted totransfer the tack and cup to said punch, and the clearing-finger 24,substantially as described.

YVILLIAM GATES. LOUIS XV. GATES. Vitnesses:

J on): E. EARLE, FRED O. EARLE.

ICO

IIO

